Weft-handling mechanism for looms.



PATENTED SEPT. 29, 1903 A. G. HOUGH. WEFT HANDLING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS.APPLIGATIQN FILED 82221212, 1902. KL) norm. 3 sums-sum 1.

wivlmwoaa F1111, QM r V PATENTED SEPT. 29, 1903.

A.G.HOUGH. WEFT HANDLING MECHANISM FOR LODMS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 12, 1902. I N0 MODEL" 3 SHEETS-SHEET Z Np.740,276. PATENTS!) SEPT. 29, 1903.

A. c. HOUGH. WEFT HANDLING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS. APPLICATION. FILED SEPT.12, 1902. H0 MODEL. 3 $HEETS-SHEET 3.

I 1, 55 l 43 401% 35 a/ 2 385 36 26 I (1' .56 44 sq 54 25 2! PatentedSeptember 29, 1903 PATENT FFICE.

A2121. 0. uoc'en or WoRcEsTER, MAssAcnusn'rrs.

WEFT-HANDLlNG MECHANISM FOR LOOMS.

, :SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 740,276, datedSeptember 29, 1903.

application filed September 12. 1902. Serial No. 128,061. (lie model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AZEL C. HOUGH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Worcester, in the county of Worcester and Commonwealth ofMassachusetts, have invented new and useful Weft-Handling Mechanism forLooms,-of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in the shed and shuttle mechanismor what may be termed the weft-handling mechanism for looms for produeing woven fabric for ourtains, shades, screens, and the like, which isformed of splints or slats of wood or other analogous material, heldtogether by warp threads or strands interwoven therewith.

The object of my improvement is to provide efiicient-aud practicalmechanism which is adapted to press the Weft material into the shed;also to protect the member which acts upon the weft material from theshuttle during the time said member is in its low position, themechanism being operated automatically; and to this end my inventionFigure l is a front view of so much of a loom as is necessary in orderto show the arrangement and operation of my invention in connectiontherewith; Fig. 2,an end eleva tion; Fig. 3, an enlarged detail on linesat as, Fig. blocking to the right; Fig. 4, an enlarged detail on lines yy, Fig. 1, looking to the left; Fig. 5, a view of the-operating-camlooking in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 2; Fig. 6, an enlarged frontview of a portion of the loom, showing my mechanism in its oper aliveposition; Fig. 7, an enlarged bottom view of the shuttle; and Fig. 8, anenlarged sectional view through the shed mechanism, showing the relativepositions of the parts when the depressor-foot is down.

Similar letters and figures refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views.

My invention is useful in wearing any fab ric the filling or weft ofwhich is composed of substantially stiff material, as slats, cane,- orstraw, in contradistinction from fabric the filling of which is oftextile material proper.

My invention comprises generally means for acting upon the weft materialafter it has left the shuttle and forcing it down into the shed andcertain peculiar means for protecting the depressor member from theshuttle by introducing into the path of travel of the latter a stopmember which bars the Way of the shuttle during-this pressing-downoperation. I prefer to introduce the aforesaid stopinto theshuttle-raceway; but it will be readily seen that it might be interposedin the path of a projection carried by the shuttle, naturally above theraceway in such case. The weft material is liable to become twisted,warped, or otherwise misshapen, so that it does not readily fall to thebottom of the shed vor within reach of the guide and presser fingerswhich may enter into the construction of the shed mechanism. Then,again, if this material is quite light it is apt to float upon the air,and thus be prevented from properly passing into the shed. These andother difficulties are obviated by the mechanism about to be described.

That part of theim proved mechanism which comes into contact with thesplint or other weft unit necessarily enters the path of travel of theshuttle, which, if accidentally released, would bend or break off suchpart and do more or less damage, to prevent which stops are provided, asbefore stated, and which will presently be described in detail.

In order to render the application and operation of my invention fullyintelligible, I have illustrated and will describe parts of a shedmechanism and of' warp devices, as well as a shuttle and its operation,by means of which the weaving is carried on; but it will be understoodthat other means for beating up and weaving the fabric may be employed;

' also that any other suitable shuttle and means for operating the samemay be used.

I will first describe those parts of the loom which are not claimed inthisapplication, butin connection with which my invention may be used,and then the invention itself will be fully set forth.

. the raceway, as best shown in Fig. 8.

The framework of the loom is composed of standards A A, cross-pieces a,b, c, d, and e, and various other supporting and stay pieces, as shown.The long pliable splints or strips which form the filling or weft of thefabric are supplied by a shuttle B, which is thrown alternately from oneend to the other of a raceway O bylevers or picker-fingers D D, pivotedatff to the ends of the cross-piece e. The picker-fingers D are actuatedtoward the center of the loom by means of springs g g, and suitablemechanism is employed to actuate first one of said picker-fingers andthen the other outwardly against the resiliency of its spring. A freshsplint is supplied to the shuttle at each end of the loom before itbegins its movement along the raceway. The mechanism which actuates thepicker-fingers D against their springs and which operates other parts ofthe loom may be connected with the main driving-shaft E, journaled inthe framework and driven by a pulley and belt F or in any other desiredway. A suitable latch h, attached to the under side of the raceway 0,one at each end, holds the picker-finger D when thrust outwardly untilactuated out of engagement therewith by some suitable means.

The raceway O is supported by brackets 2' t, fastened to the uprights A,and a lugj extends upward from each of said brackets into the open spacebetween the bottom plates of On the bottom of the shuttle B, at oppositesides of the longitudinal center thereof, are fixed abutments is It anda fiat spring Z. The spring Zis secured in its center to the shuttle andits free ends normally bear against the abutments it. When a splint m isthrust by hand between one of the abutments and the adjacent end of thespring, it is held by the latter until released by contact with one ofthe lugs j. The lugsj are out of alinement with each other, so that eachsplint held by the shuttle will clear the lug which it first reaches,but will contact with the one beyond and be discharged intoguide-fingers at below.

Twister-heads 0, having at their lower ends crossheads 1), are journaledin the crosspieces I) and c and suitably operated. The threads orstrands g, which form the warp of the fabric, pass through thesetwister-heads and cross-heads down to the point where in the rotation ofthe twisterheads they are woven around the splints m.

The members which act upon the splint after it has passed into the shedand which may be termed the old shed mechanism comprise shafts 'r', s,and t, journaled in the brackets t', the presser-fingers uon said shaft1', and the guide-fingers 12, arranged in pairs on said shafts s and t.Suitable means are employed to cause the guide-fingers n on the shafts sand If to approach each other after the splints have been depositedbetween them and then to cause the presser-fingers it to turn down oversaid splint and beat it up; but

. said guideplate 13.

before these operations take place it is neces sary that the splintshall be fairly brought into the field of operation of the guide andpresser fingers; and to this end my invention has been produced.Suitablemechanism for operating the twister-heads 0, guide-fingers n,and presser-fingers u is shown and described in an application forLetters Patent of the United States filed by me October 16, 1901, SerialNo. 78,791.

My auxiliary weft-handling mechanism is described as follows: Adepressor-foot 10 is fixed to the base of a rod 11, which passes upwardthrough guide-plates 12 and 13 on the bottom of the cross-pieces c and1), respectively, and said rod is bent forward at the top and thendownward to again pass through On the bottom of this short vertical part11 of the rod 11 is a washer 1 1, preferably of rubber or other yieldingmaterial, resting upon acollar 15, fast on said part. A spring 16,having one end attached to a pin 17, projecting from an extension a,

from the cross-piece a and the other end to a 'rod 11 by means of astrap 20 and has its base pivoted at 21 to the adjacent end of arockerarm 22. Rocker-arm 22 is rigidly attached to a collar 23, carriedby-a stud 24. Stud 24 projects from the face of a bracket 25, bolted tothe crosspieces I) and 0. An arm 26 extends from the collar 23 below thearm 22, and a stringer or brace 27 connects said arms in order tostrengthen the construction.

On the front end of the stud 24 and rigid with the collar 23 is a smallbevelgear 28. A rock-shaft 29 is journaled in forwardly-extendingprojections 30 30 from brackets 30 30, suitably supported at oppositeends of the framework. A large bevel-gear 31, meshing with the gear 28,is loose on the rock-shaft 29 at one side of a projection 25 of thebracket 25 and has a collar 31 extending through said projection. Amutilated disk 32 is fast on the collar 31 at the opposite side of theprojection 25, the periphery of the disk 32 being notched at 32*. Faston the rock-shaft 29 'to the left of the sleeve 31 is a sleeve 33,provided with a crank-arm 34, to which is pivoted at 35 a dog 36. Thefree terminal of the dog 36 rests upon the mutilated or depressedsurface of the disk 32, with its beak normally a little remote from theshoulder 32", as best shown in Fig. 3, thus introducing a lost-motiondevice into the mechanism,

for the purposes hereinafter described. Two

gears 37 are fast on opposite ends of the rockshaft 29 and mesh withsmall gears 38 38 on studs 39, projecting from the bracket projectionsAt the left-hand end of the loom a large gear '40 on a stud 41projecting from the adjacent bracket projection 30, meshes with theadjacent gear 37. An arm 42 is rigidly connected with the gear 40,extends to the rear, and has clips 43 and 44 pivoted to its free end. Aspring 45 extends upward from the clip 43 to a pin 46, driven into anextension a from the cross-piece a. A spring .47 depends-from the clip44 and has an operating-rod 48 attached to its lower end. The springs 16and 45 are comparatively light, while the spring 47 is heavy. The lowerend of the operating-rod 48. is pivotally connected to the upper end ofa bell-crank lever 49, pivoted at 50 to the end of the cross-piece d.The lower end of the bell-crank lever 49 is provided with a roller 51.Acam 52, of substantially the form shown in Figs. 1, 2,

and 5 in the drawings, is fast on the main driving-shaft E, and theroller 51 lies in the path of said cam. As the cam revolves itsright-hand edge strikes the roller 51 and actuates the bell-crank lever49, which in turn op.- erates the mechanism. Arms 53 53 are rigidlyattached at their front ends to the small gears 38 and have lifters 5454, pivoted at 55 55 to their rear ends. Each lifter 54 comprises avertical side and horizontal pieces at the top and bottom, perforated toreceive loosely a lifter-rod 56.

The part-sdescribed below are used at both ends of the loom and adescription of those at one-end is deemed sufficient for those at theother end.

The lifter-rod 56 is bent over atthe top at 56, so that it cannot bedetached .from the lifter 54, and is pivotally connected at the bottomto an ear 57, rising from a shuttle safety-stop 58. The stop 58 ispivoted at 59 to suit-able projections from the cross-piece c and has across-piece 60, forming lugs projecting on both sides, which are adaptedto rest upon the top 'of the raceway 0 when said stop is lowered. Thefree end of the stop is sufficiently narrow to permit of its'entrancebetween the sides of the raceway.

Assuming that the shuttle it has been provided with a splint m anddriven from the right-hand end of the raceway G by means of therighthand pickerfinger D toward the left-hand end of said raceway andthe splint has encountered the left-hand lugj and been detached fromsaid shuttle, the operation of my invention, the parts of which stand asshown in Figs. 1 and 2, is as follows: The revolution of the shaft E isso timed that it now brings one of the pointed ends'of the cam 52into-contact with the roller 51, rocks the bell-crank lever 49, anddraws'do'wn the rod The spring 47 takes up the shock that wouldotherwise occur to the parts now being brought into action and drawsdown the lever 42 against the resiliency of the lighter springs 45, thuscausing the gears 40,

37, and 38to make partial revolutions. The gears 38 being so muchsmaller than the other two carry the arms 53, with the lifters 54,downward and permit the stops 58 to drop by gravity into the path of theshuttle B before the dog 36 contacts with the disk-shoulder 32*, saidstops turning upon their pivots 59'. The shuttle B having reached thelefthand end of the raceway, it is only the adjacent stop 58 which isrequired, as shown in Fig. 6; but when said shuttle is at the oppositeend of .the raceway the other stop comes into requisition. For the sakeof simplicity in construction, however, the two stops are arranged tooperate simultaneously. The

stops 58 now rest with their cross-pieces 60' bearing on the upper edgesof the raceway, rubber or other yielding buffers 61 61 being provided onsaid raceway beneath said crosspieces, if desired, to lessen the shockof contact when the stops are dropped or lowered. The lifters 54slidedown the rods 56 some distance below the overturned ends 56.Henceconsiderable motion is permitted to the partswithoutaffectingt-hestops 58. The

continued downward movement of the lever 42 as it is actuated by the cam52 and the in tervening members causes the dog 36,thr0ugh the medium ofthe gear 40 and meshing gear 37, rock-shaft 29, collar 33, and crank-arm34, after it contacts with the shoulder 32 to rotate the disk 32 andgear 31, which in turn imparts rapid motion to the small gear 28. Thepartial rotation of the gear 28 and the connected collar 23 causes thearm 22 to sweep downward and carry withit the rod 11 against theresiliency of the spring 16, since said arm is operatively connectedwith said rod in the manner hereinbefore described; pressor-foot 10 isthus carried down and into the position shown in Figs. 6 and 8 andforces the splint m just deposited in the shed downward into the fieldof action of the guide and The de presser-fingers, since said foot isabove said splint. to leave room for the oscillating 'rod 19 and theconnected end of the rocker-arm 22 to operate freely. As soon as the cam52 passes away from the bell-crank lever 49 the springs 16 and 45 act torestore the several members of the mechanism now under consideration totheir respective positions; but the stops 58 are not removed from thepath of the shuttle until after the depressor-foot 10 has been carriedup out of said path, so that at notime is it possible for the shuttle ifaccidentally released to escape from the adjacent stop, and thus damagethe depressorfoot and its connections. The reasonthat the stops 58 arenot elevated until after the depressor-foot'ri ses is because the lostmotion between the dog 36 and the disk 32 is so timed as to permit thearms 53'with the lift- The guide-plate 13 is cut out at 13 not untilthen the quick action of the small gears 38 causes said stops to beelevated, for, be it remembered, the dog 36 remains in contact with thedisk-shoulder 32 until the rodstop represented by the washer 14 andcollar 15 on the part 11 strikes the under side of the plate 13. Thespring 45' assists indirectly in raising the depressor-rod 11, and afterthe latter has been checked in its upward travel by the plate 13, asexplained above, said spring completes the work of actuating the partsto raise the stops 58, the

dog 36 drawing away from the disk-shoulder 32 at this time. The amountof play permitted the lifters 54 on the rods 56 is snfiiicient to allowfor the elevation 'of the rod 11 before said lifters engage the ends 56of said rods. The splint or other weft unit is now within the grasp ofthe guide-fingers n, and the presser-fingers to immediately act to beatup said splint, after which the twister-heads 0 operate to Wrap the warpthreads or strands 0 about the splint. Then these parts return to theirformer positions, and the shuttle takes another flight through theraceway with a fresh splint for a repetition of the cycle of the loom.The operation of the auxiliary mechanism is the same regardless of thedirection taken by the shuttle. The cam 52 is of such length and sotimed as to cause the new mechanism to do its work while other parts ofthe old weft-handling mechanism are at rest or at least not in activeoperation, wherefore conflict with such parts is avoided. Byconstructing the cam 52 alike at both ends provision is made foroperating the dependent mechanism whichever way the shaft E is revolved,and the arrangement of said mechanism is such that the direction of saidcam does not change or vary the mode of operation of the mechanism. Thisfeature is valuable in case it is desired to back up the loom for anypurpose.

More than one depressor-foot and coacting mechanism may be employed inthe same loom, if desired; but under ordinary circumstances one issufficient, because the weaver who tends the loom is able to take careof the end of the splint at his end of the loom-generally the right-handend.

The sides of the raceway C and the bottom plates thereof may be cutaway, as shown at 'v c, Fig. 8, if necessary, to permit of the passageof the depressor-foot 10.

Mechanism constructed as herein shown and described has been found byactual experience to be practical and successful to a marked degree; butI am aware that various changes and modifications in the number,construction, arrangement, and combination of the component parts may bemade, and I desire to include within the scope of my claims all suchchanges and modifications which do not violate the spirit of myinvention.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. In a loom, an open-bottom raceway for a shuttle, and a depressorrnember adapted to intersect the path of travel of the shuttle. 2. In aloom, an open-bottom raceway for a shuttle, and a depressor memberadapted to intersect the path of travel of the shuttle and be projectedinto the field of the shed.

3. In a loom, a raceway open at the bottom, and a depressor memberarranged above the same and adapted to force the weft material as soonas it leaves the shuttle, farther into the field of the shed.

4. In a loom, a raceway open at the bottom, and a reciprocatingdepressor member arranged above said raceway and adapted to pass throughthe same'and force the weft material toward the closedpart of the shed.

5. In a loom, a stationary raceway, a shuttle adapted to run therein,adepressor memher, and means operated by the main shaft of the loom toreciprocatev said member across the path of travel of the shuttle andthrough the raceway.

6. The combination, with the guide-fingers of a loom, of a depressormember adapted to intersect the path of travel of the shuttle and forcethe weft material into the field of action of said guide-fingers aftersaid material leaves the shuttle.

7. The combination, in a loom, with weftdepressor membersspring-actuated in one direction and parts comprising a rock-shaft andfast and loose members thereon adapted to actuate said members in theother direction, of means operated by the main shaft of the loom foroperating said rock-shaft.

8. The combination, in a loom, with a depressor rod and foot suitablyguided from the framework, of a stop on saidrod and a spring to normallyretain the rod in its elevated position, pivotally-connected partsarranged to depress the depressor-rod against the spring, a rock-shaft,gearing between. one of said parts and said rock-shaft, and suitablemeans for operating the latter.

9. The combination, in a loom, with a suitably-guided depressor rod andfoot, of a rockshaft, gearing operated by the latter, a lostmotiondevice between said gearing and rockshaft, pivotal connections betweensaid rod and gearing, and means for rotating said rockshaft.

10. The combination, in a loom, with a suitably-guided depressor-rodspring-pressed in one direction, of a rock-shaft and fast and loosemembers thereon, and means to rotate said shaft and members and depresssaid rod against the resiliency of its spring to carry its foot into thefield of the shed and to release the rod to the action of its spring.

11. The combination, in aloom, with a suitably-guided depressor rod andfoot springpressed in one direction, of'a rock-shaft and fast and loosemembers thereon, means to rotate said rock-shaft and members and depresssaid rod to carry its foot into the field of action, and means torelease the rod to the action of its spring.

12. The combination, in a loom, of a depressonrod 11 provided with apart11 and a foot, guides for said rod attached to the frame .andmeans'operated by the main shaft, and

arranged for a' limited amount of vertical movement independent of saidstop to operate the same.

14. The combination, in a loom,with ashuttle safety-stop, of meansoperated by the main driving-shaft for permitting said stop to be thrustinto the path of travel of the shuttle,

and resilient means for removing it from said path.

15. The combination, in a loom, of a depressor member for the weftmaterial, a safetystop for the shuttle, and means operated by the maindriving-shaft for thrusting said memher into the field of the shed andsaid stop into the path of travel of the shuttle.

16. The combination, in a loom, of a depressor member adapted to bethrust into the field of the shed, a safety-stop for the shuttle, andmeans for operating said stop before and after saidmember is operated.

17. The combination, in a loom, of a depressor member adapted to bethrust into the field of the shed, a safety-stop for the shuttle, andmeans operated by the main drivingshaft for operating said member andstop, such means adapted to cause the member and stop to actindependently of each other.

18. The combination, in a loom, of a depressor member adapted to bethrust into the field of theshed, a safety-stop for the shuttle,and'means for. actuating said member and stop so that one operateswithin the limit of time fixed for the operation of the other.-

' 19. The combination, in a loom, with a safety-stop arranged to bethrust into the path of travel of the shuttle, of a lifter-rod for saidstop, a lifter for said rod, an arm pivoted to said lifter, and meansfor oscillating said arm.

20. The combination, in a loom, with a safety-stop arranged to bethrust. into the path of travel of the shuttle, of a lifter-rod for saidstop, a lifter playing freely'on said rod except at the upper end of itstravel when the rod and stop are lifted thereby, an arm pivoted to saidlifter, and means for oscillating said arm.

21. The combination, in a loom, with a shuttle safety-stop 58 pivoted tothe framework and having lugs adapted to rest upon the raceway when saidstop is lowered, an operatiug-arm 53, a lifter 54 pivotally connected tosaid arm, a lifter-rod 56 attached to the stop and passing freelythrough said lifter, said rod being turned'over the top of the lifterand adapted to be raised thereby, and

means to oscillate said arm, substantially asdescribed.

22. In weft-handling mechanism for looms, the combination with adepressor-rod and a shuttle safety-stop, of means for operating thesemembers, and a lost-motion device introduced into the mechanism toenable said stop to act before and after the action of said rod takesplace.

23. The combination, in weft handling mechanism for looms, of arock-shaft, means for operating the same, a depressor-rod spring-.pressed in one direction, intermediate means :between said rocleshaftand rod to actuate the latter against its spring, a shuttle safetystop,intermediate means between the rockshaft and said stop to actuate thelatter, and a lost-motion device-in the mechanism for the purpose ofallowing the stop to act before and after the action of thedepressor-rod takes place.

24. In weft-handling mechanism for looms, the combination of arocleshaft, means for mounted on said rock-shaft, a crank-sleeve tighton the shaft and provided with a dog arranged to engage the mutilatedpart of said disk, a shuttle safety-stop operated by said shaft, and adepressor-rod for the weft mate- .smallest gear and provided with alifter, a

lifter-rod on which said lifter runs freely except when at the upper endof its travel, a shuttle safety-stop pivotally connected with saidlifter-rod, a crank-provided sleeve fast on said rock-shaft carrying adog, a mutilated disk loose on the rock-shaft and adapted to .be engagedby said dog, a gear. rigid with the disk, asecond gear rigid with acollar provided with an arm, said second gear meshing with thedisk-gear,aud a depressor-rod springpressed in one direction andoperatively connected with said collar-arm, substantially as set forth.

26. The combination, in wefthandling .mechanism for looms, of arock-shaft, a gear intermediate members for actuating said armagainstits sprin an arm rigid with the small- 0 est gear and providedwith a' litter, a lifterrod on which said lifter runs freely except whenat the upper end of its travel, ashuttle safety-stop pivotally connectedwith said lifter-rod, a crank-provided sleeve fast on said rock-shaftcarrying a dog, a mutilated operating the same, a mutilated disk looselydisk loose on the rock-shaft and adapted to be engaged by said dog, agear rigid with the disk, a second gear rigid with a collar providedwith an arm, said second gear meshing with the disk-gear,and adepressor-rod spring pressed in one direction and operatively connectedwith said collar-arm, substantially as set'forth.

27. The combination, in weft handling mechanism for looms, of arock-shaft, a gear fast thereon, a larger and a smaller gear suitablymounted and meshing with the first, a spring pressed arm rigid with thelargest gear, a bell-crank lever and a cam for actuating said armagainst its spring, a spring introduced between this arm and thebell-crank lever, an arm rigid with the smallest gear and provided witha lifter, a lifter-rod on which said lifter runs freely except when atthe upper end of its travel, a shuttle safety-stop pivotally connectedwith said lifter-rod, a crank-provided sleeve fast on said rock-shaftcarrying a dog, a mutilated disk loose on the rock-shaft and adapted tobe engaged by said dog, a gear rigid with the disk, a second gear rigidwith a collar provided with an arm, said second gear meshing with thedisk-gear, and a depressor-rod spring-pressed in one direction andoperatively connected with said collar-arm, substantially as set forth.

28. The combination, in a loom, with shuttle safety-stops, of arock-shaft, gears thereon, other gears suitably mounted and mesh: ingwith the rock-shaft gears, arms rigid with the second gears, lifterspivoted to said arms, and lifter-rods operatively connected with saidlifters and pivotally attached to said stops, for the purpose set forth.

29. The combination, in a 1oom,with a weftdepressor member adapted to beintroduced into the shed, of a rock-shaft, gears thereon, other gearssuitably mounted and meshing with the rock-shaft gears, arms rigid withthe second gears, lifters pivoted to said arms, lifter-rods operativelyconnected with said litters, and shuttle safety-stops pivotally attachedto said lifter-rods, for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

AZEL C. HOUGl-I.

Witnesses:

FRED A. WALKER, PAUL O. CHAMBERLAIN.

